(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Maulvi Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, Taliban minister of foreign affairs, RSF protested the banning of the Internet in territories controlled by the Kabul authorities. RSF asked the minister to rescind his decision and allow Afghans and foreigners working in the country to access the Internet. “After banning television, music and […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Maulvi Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, Taliban minister of foreign affairs, RSF protested the banning of the Internet in territories controlled by the Kabul authorities. RSF asked the minister to rescind his decision and allow Afghans and foreigners working in the country to access the Internet. “After banning television, music and most of the media, the Taliban yet again prevent the Afghan people from receiving information from outside,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard.
According to information obtained by RSF, the Pakistan-based press agency Afghan Islamic Press announced on 13 July 2001 that the Taliban had ordered the banning of the Internet in territories under their control. According to the foreign affairs minister, the ban will prevent access to “vulgar, immoral and anti-Islamic” content. Only a few Afghans and foreigners working for international organisations have Internet access through Pakistani phone lines. In Kabul, civil servants, notably in the foreign affairs and interior ministries, were reportedly already ordered to terminate all Internet connections.
